Page 14 - Mississippi/Louisiana Gaming News - Fall, 2022

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In Tunica, Isle of Capri closed in 2002, leaving the Isle of Capri Casino Hotel in Lula as the company’s sole property in the northern part of the state. Harlow’s Casino Resort opened in Greenville
in 2007, and most recently, Trop Casino Greenville replaced the former Lighthouse Point Casino and Jubilee Casino riverboats.
In 2004, Harrah’s agreed to buy Caesars Entertainment. The combined company would have controlled five of Tunica Resorts’ nine casinos: Bally’s Casino, Grand Casino, Harrah’s, Horseshoe Casino and Sheraton Casino and Hotel. So, due to a possible anti- competitive situation in the Tunica market, Harrah’s agreed to sell the Harrah’s Casino on Casino Strip along with Bally’s to Colony Capital, who then created Resorts International Holdings to own and operate Bally’s Tunica and Harrah’s Casino, which it rebranded as Resorts Casino. Grand Casino would be rebranded Harrah’s Casino in 2007 and Sheraton Casino would be rebranded Tunica Roadhouse in 2009. Caesars closed Harrah’s in 2014 and Tunica Roadhouse in early 2019.
In 2011, Foundation Gaming Group of Gulfport, Mississippi, assumed the management of Resorts Casino and Hotel along with Bally’s Casino Tunica. In 2013, management responsibility changed. In May 2017, Resorts and Bally’s Tunica were sold in a joint deal with Gaming & Leisure Properties acquiring their real estate assets for a total of $83 million, and Penn National purchased the operating assets for
a total of $44 million. Penn National rebranded Bally’s Tunica as 1st Jackpot Casino Tunica and announced in April 2019 that Resorts Tunica would close in June.
In Natchez, 2013 marked the opening
Silver Slipper Casino (above) opened its hotel in 2015, and Landry’s, owned by Tilman Fertitta, bought and rebranded Isle of Capri as Golden Nugget Biloxi in 2014.
of Magnolia Bluffs Casino, giving the
city its second casino. But, as 2015 came to a close, Natchez returned to
a one-casino city as the Isle of Capri Casino shut its doors, selling its hotel to Magnolia Bluffs.
Tunica has seen many changes in the past 30 years. The Great Mississippi River Flood effectively closed all casinos along the Mississippi River in May 2011, shutting down the 24/7 gaming industry in North Mississippi for nearly a month. The loss of revenue from the flood, plus competition from out-of-state casinos, had a hurtful effect on the area.
Gaming Gains On The Gulf Coast
While much of the state held expansion at a minimum, the coastal area continued to build and grow. Margaritaville Casino & Restaurant,
the first new gaming property on the Gulf Coast to open since 2007, opened in 2012. Developed with entertainer Jimmy Buffett, the property, built without a hotel, closed in 2014. That same year, Twin River Worldwide Holdings acquired Hard Rock Biloxi, which soon after opened a second hotel tower.
Also in 2014, Caesars Entertainment’s Grand Biloxi rebranded as Harrah’s Gulf Coast. More growth was experienced in 2015, when, after a 20-year struggle to get a casino, the city of D’Iberville finally obtained one with the opening of Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort, which features a 36-hole miniature golf course.
In Hancock County, Silver Slipper opened its hotel that year. Gulfport’s Island View Casino Resort expanded with the addition of the Beach Tower, located on the south side of Highway 90. The hotel tower, connected by a skywalk over the highway, has a number of restaurants and shops. Island View is owned and operated by Rick Carter and
Terry Green, two Mississippians who are considered pioneers of gaming.
Corporate Casinos
While many of the casinos in Mississippi started as privately owned
or were managed by small companies, today, the landscape is filled with corporations that own properties across the country and beyond. Isle of Capri Casinos Inc. — the company that started it all — was purchased by Eldorado Resorts, which, in 2020, merged with Caesars Entertainment. Caesars has four properties in Mississippi: Harrah’s Gulf Coast, Horseshoe Tunica, Isle of Capri Lula and Trop Casino Greenville. Beau Rivage and its sister property
Gold Strike are owned by MGM Resorts International (originally MGM Mirage).
In 2010, Churchill Downs acquired Harlow’s Greenville and in 2012 it acquired Riverwalk Casino in Vicksburg. Also owning two Mississippi properties is Boyd Gaming, which already had Sam’s Town in Tunica and acquired IP Casino Biloxi in 2011. Full House acquired the Silver Slipper Casino in 2012.
More recently, Foundation Gaming acquired DiamondJacks Vicksburg in 2015, rebranding it as WaterView Casino in 2016, and Fitz Casino Tunica in 2018. Twin River, which continues to own Hard Rock Biloxi, changed its name to Bally’s Corporation in 2020. It also owns the former Lady Luck Casino in Vicksburg, which saw a number
of changes after being acquired by Eldorado Resorts in 2017 before Twin River acquired the Eldorado Resorts subsidiary that owned Lady Luck in 2020. The property is now named Bally’s Casino Vicksburg.
Additionally, PENN Entertainment (formerly Penn National Gaming) owns five Mississippi properties: Hollywood Tunica and 1st Jackpot Casino in Tunica; Ameristar Casino Hotel in Vicksburg; and Hollywood Casino Gulf Coast and Boomtown Casino Biloxi.
Of course, there are still the privately owned properties, including Palace Casino Resort, Scarlet Pearl Casino Resort and Island View Casino Resort.
And back to the beginning in Biloxi,
the city where it all began, the original Isle of Capri Casino was purchased
by businessman Tilman Fertitta and opened as Golden Nugget Biloxi in 2014. Currently, four of the Isle’s original employees still work at the property and were recently recognized as Day One employees.
14 MISSISSIPPI GAMING NEWS FALL 2022